Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive airflow limitation that is preventable but not curable. It is associated with persistent symptoms that cause a considerable burden on individual productivity at work, and daily activities, and reduced quality of life, also burdening the healthcare system and society. Objectives: The study aims to measure the burden of COPD on patients in terms of daily activities and work productivity. It also seeks to investigate some inflammatory biomarkers' levels and their correlation with selected outcomes. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study on 120 stable COPD patients who were diagnosed and treated according to the GOLD guidelines at Kirkuk General Hospital's chest and Internal Medicine consultation clinics, and in private internist clinics in Kirkuk City, Iraq between January and April 2023. The Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI-COPD) measured the Burden of COPD. The symptom burden was assessed by the COPD assessment test (CAT). The level of IL-6 monoclonal antibodies was measured via a Roche Cobas 6000 analyzer and TNF-α using the ELISA sandwich technique. All these devices and machines were authorized by the Ministry of Health, Iraq. Results: The mean age was (54.1 ± 8.12) years, 62.5% being males and 37.5% being females; 41.7% were public sector employees, and 39.2% were self-employed. Due to COPD, the overall work loss was (45.9±18.91) days, the mean percentage of absenteeism was (10.9% ± 12.31%), activity impairment was (47.5% ±17.79%) among all patients, presenteeism was (40.8 ± 15.05%,) and COPD-related retirees were 14.2% of the study group. The mean CAT score (19.3±5.63) was high and the most troubling symptom among patients was chest tightness. WPAI-COPD scores were higher in older age and longer disease duration. The levels of biomarkers were above the reference ranges, the mean IL-6 level was (69.4 ± 35.29) pg/ml, and the mean TNF-α was (72.3 ± 22.45) pg/ ml. Conclusions: COPD patients exhibit a disease burden in terms of productivity loss at work and activity impairment that increases with aging and disease duration. COPD patients with low BMI are more prone to a decline in lung functions and to worse symptoms.
Different Arabic and Islamic societies are free of evil instincts. Therefore, certain provisions of legitimacy came to stress the importance of the intentions of sharia to achieve the interests of all people that involve several aspects, including the five fundamental things: religion, oneself, offspring, mind and money. Almighty Allah has specified certain punishments on those who violate these things by imposing punishments on the part of the criminal to preserve souls. He imposes the penalty of theft to preserve property, the Hadd punishment for adultery to preserve the symptoms, the punishment on the drunk to preserve the mind, and the Hadd punishment for the apostate to preserve the religion. By the adherence to these punishments li
... Show MoreThe research dealt with the effectiveness of prediction and foresight in design as a phenomenon that plays a role in the recipient's engagement with the design, as it shows the interaction between the recipient and the interior space. The designer is keen to diversify his formal vocabulary in a way that secures visual values that call for aesthetic integration, as well as securing mental and kinetic behavioral understanding in the interior space.
As the designer deals with a three-dimensional space that carries many visual scenes, the designer should not leave anything from it without standing on it with study and investigation, and puts the user as a basic goal as he provides interpretive data through prediction and foresight that le
Ghrelin and leptin are hunger hormones related to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and the pathogenesis of T2DM is the abnormality in insulin secretion and insulin resistance (IR). The aim of this study is to evaluate ghrelin and leptin concentrations in blood and to specify the relationship of these hormones as dependent variables with some biochemical and clinical measurements in T2DM patients. In this study, forty one T2DM and forty three non-diabetes mellitus (non-DM) subjects, aged between 40-60 years and with normal weight, were enrolled. Fasting serum ghrelin and leptin were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In our results ghrelin was significantly increased, and leptin was significantly decreased, in T2DM pa
... Show MoreBackground: Significant numbers of patients with spinal tuberculosis (TB), especially in developing countries, still present late after disease onset with severe neurological deficits.
Objective:This study was conducted to assess the outcome of surgery in patients with tuberculosis of the spine with motor deficits.
Type of the study: Retrospective study.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data obtained in all the patients with severe motor deficits due to spinal TB admitted to and surgically treated in four hospitals in Baghdad/Iraq during the period from January 2012 to January 2014. History, examination, imaging, histological, postoperative, a
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Patient aggression is a global health care problem. This study examined the impact of patient aggression on the quality of care that patients receive as perceived by their family members and the ethical challenges involved from the nurse’s perspective. A descriptive–analytical method was used. The participants of this study were nurses working on psychiatric units and family members of patients in Iraq. Two questionnaires were used: one on nursing care quality and one on ethical challenges in clinical situations. The results showed that the quality of care for these patients was reduced, with a
Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic disorder that constitutes a major health problem worldwide. Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular parasite that may infect any nucleated cell. Toxoplasmosis is becoming a worldwide health threat, infecting 30–50% of the world’s human population. The studies that have been undertaken to investigate the link between T. gondii infection and diabetes have shown contradictory fi ndings. This research aimed to look at the possible link between T2DM and T. gondii infection. Methods and Subjects: The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) approach was used to screen for T. gondii IgM and IgG antibodies in 69 patients with T2DM and 92 seemingly healthy persons as controls. Resul
... Show MoreAutorías: Muhammad Hamza Shihab, Nuha Mohsin Dhahi. Localización: Revista iberoamericana de psicología del ejercicio y el deporte. Nº. 4, 2022. Artículo de Revista en Dialnet.
The health care industry is witnessing an increasing trend in the use of generic medicines because of their presumed low cost compared with innovator medicines. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the performance of the copy drug Osveral®and its innovator drug deferasirox (Exjade®).
A prospective observational study including 223 patients receiving the branded medicine Exjade®and 101 patients receiving the copy Osveral®was carried out. Data were assessed for a 1-year period and included clinical symptoms, serum ferrit
Abstract: The aim of the current study was to investigate the possible protective effect of graded doses (5, 10, and 15mg/kg) of pyridoxine hydrochloride intraperitoneally injected against (15mg/kg) doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in female rats. Fifty-six (56) Wistar albino female rats were utilized weighing 180-200 gm allocated into eight groups, seven rats each; Group I: negative control distilled water; Group II: Pyridoxine (5mg/kg); Group III: Pyridoxine (10mg/kg); Group IV: Pyridoxine (15mg/kg); Group V: doxorubicin (15 mg/kg); Group VI: Pyridoxine (5 mg/kg) prior to doxorubicin (15 mg/kg); Group VII: Pyridoxine (10 mg/kg) prior to doxorubicin (15 mg/kg); Group VIII: Pyridoxine (15 mg/kg) prior to doxorub
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